Published January 3, 2023 January 3, 2023
The United States is not discussing joint nuclear exercises with South Korea, US President Joe Biden has said, appearing to contradict statements by his South Korean counterpart, President Yoon Suk-yeol, that Washington and Seoul were in talks about exercises involving US nuclear assets.
The South Korean president said in a newspaper interview that Seoul and Washington were in “talks about joint planning and exercises involving US nuclear assets to counter North Korea’s nuclear threats.”
Asked by reporters at the White House on Monday if he was currently discussing joint nuclear exercises with South Korea, Biden said, “No.”
President Yoon’s comments, in an interview published in the Chosun Ilbo newspaper on Monday, come at a time of rising tensions with North Korea, which test-launched an unprecedented number of ballistic missiles in 2022 and has vowed to counter what it sees as military. planning by the US and South Korea for a possible invasion.
In response to North Korea’s saber-rattling, Yoon has taken an increasingly tough stance, calling for “war preparation” with an “overwhelming” capability.
The newspaper quoted Yoon as saying that the joint planning and exercises would be aimed at more effectively implementing the US’s “extended deterrence”, which refers to the ability of the US military – especially its nuclear forces – to deter attacks on US allies.
To better respond to North Korea’s nuclear threats, Seoul wants to participate in the operation of US nuclear forces, Yoon told the newspaper.
“The nuclear weapons belong to the United States, but planning, information sharing, exercises and training should be carried out jointly by South Korea and the United States,” Yoon said, adding that Washington is also “quite positive” about the idea.
On Tuesday, Yoon’s senior secretary for press affairs, Kim Eun-hye, said Biden had to say no when asked such a direct question about such a sensitive issue, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
“When the Reuters reporter asked him point-blank if joint nuclear exercises were discussed, President Biden obviously had to say ‘No,'” Kim said in a statement, according to Yonhap.
“South Korea and the United States are in talks about information sharing, joint planning and the joint implementation plans that follow, in relation to the operation of US nuclear assets, to respond to North Korea’s nuclear weapons,” she said.
The seemingly contradictory statement that emerged from Seoul and Washington seemed to cause some confusion.
Despite Biden’s comment, South Korea’s presidential office continues to insist that the US and South Korea are in talks to give South Korea a greater role in the operation of US nuclear forces.
Statement just now by Kim Eun-hye, Senior Presidential Secretary for Press Affairs: pic.twitter.com/PcJ8UapAEw
— William Gallo (@GalloVOA) January 3, 2023
A senior Biden administration official appeared to provide some clarity when he told the Reuters news agency that joint nuclear exercises were not planned with South Korea because Seoul was not a nuclear power.
The U.S. and South Korea were looking at improved information sharing, expanded emergency situations and tabletop exercises over time, the official said, according to Reuters.
Extended deterrence
The United States has long had an expanded deterrence dialogue with Japan to talk about nuclear issues and began the same dialogue with South Korea in 2016, said Thomas Countryman, the former acting secretary of state for arms control, who chaired the dialogue’s first meeting. See the article : Nancy Pelosi to travel to Asia with a possible stop in Taiwan, despite warnings from China.
“It’s not immediately clear what in President Yoon’s statement is new and what is a restatement of things that are already happening,” Countryman said Monday in a telephone interview.
Countryman said Yoon’s comments, aimed at the South Korean people, appeared to be a response to what he called North Korea’s provocations and rhetoric.
“I see this as an effort by both President Yoon and the Biden administration to reassure the government and people of South Korea that America’s commitment remains solid.”
At a meeting with North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party last week, Kim Jong Un said South Korea had become an “undeniable enemy” and was rolling out new military targets, signaling another year of intensive weapons testing and tension.
Inter-Korean ties have long been strained, but have been even more strained since Yoon took office in May, pledging a tougher stance on North Korea.
On Sunday, North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile off its east coast in a rare weapons test late on New Year’s Day, following three ballistic missile launches on Saturday.
